Just an hour after practice on Wednesday, it was clear that Texans quarterback Matt Schaub was back in his familiar position as the team’s starter.

His teammates praised his speedy recovery last week when he rejoined practice for the first time since tearing the medial collateral ligament in his knee on Nov. 2. This week as he officially moved back into the starting role, the jokes began.

“He looks like the same old Matt — slow,” right tackle Eric Winston said. “So, there’s nothing that’s going to change about Matt. But, no, he’s fine. He really looks good. Other than that brace he’s wearing now, he looks the same running, the same speed. He’s throwing the ball well. He’s moving around, same command in the huddle. He’ll be fine.”

Last week Schaub took jabs at his own speed, admitting the large knee brace he will wear this month would be a hindrance if he was speedy or a scrambler.

But nothing could put a damper on Schaub’s mood. He even seemed genuinely excited about playing in temperatures that could dip as low as 12 degrees at Lambeau Field on Sunday when the Texans play the Packers.

Schaub doesn’t care where the team plays as long as he is back on the field with his teammates.

“I never listened or heard any of those things about being out for the year,” Schaub said. “That was all other people talking about that. I knew that I could come back, and I just said, ‘I’m going to try to make it back for the last month,’ and I’ve been able to do that, so now it’s just time to go play.”

Schaub remains ranked 10th in the league with a quarterback rating of 91.0. He’s sixth in the league in passing (251.7 yards per game). In the month of October, he put together one of the best stretches of any quarterback in the league as he helped the Texans string together three-consecutive victories.

In his seven starts this year, he has passed for 10 touchdowns and rushed for two. He also has eight interceptions and three lost fumbles.

The main issue for Schaub the past two seasons has been simply staying on the field. This season, he hasn’t started more than four consecutive games. The team is hoping he can pick up where he left off in October and string together four strong performances to finish out this season.

“I think any time you play it’s important to your future,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “But he’s a young quarterback with not a lot of starts under his belt. (He) has done some very good things but has gone through the injury bug, and you can learn to play through that. It’s something that he’s got to do and prove to everybody he can do and play good football along the way.”

Schaub is 7-11 as a starter the past two years. This week he will try to earn his first win on the road since Sept. 16, 2006. He is 0-9 in road starts since then, and the Texans realize they have no easy task ahead.

“I know everybody is excited for him that he’s getting back because he’s missed a lot of time in the year,” receiver Andre Johnson said. “When he’s been healthy, he’s played very well and this month is very important to him and our football team. So from that standpoint, I know everybody is upbeat about him coming back.”